Five Things We're Excited to See in the UVA Basketball Blue-White Scrimmages

Five things to watch in the Virginia men's and women's basketball scrimmages on Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena

The annual Virginia basketball Blue-White Scrimmages will be held on Saturday, October 14th at John Paul Jones Arena, giving UVA fans their first look at the Virginia men's and women's teams for the 2023-2024 college basketball season. Here's a schedule of events for Saturday's scrimmages at JPJ:

12:30pm - Doors open
12:45-1:15pm - Men’s Autograph Session (concourse near section 307)
1:30-2:30pm - Women’s Scrimmage
2:30-3:30pm - Men’s Scrimmage
3:30-4pm - Women’s Autograph Session (concourse near section 307)

CavaliersNow will be on the scene covering Saturday's scrimmages. Here's five things we're looking forward to seeing at the Virginia Basketball Blue-White Scrimmages:

1. Newcomers. Newcomers, everywhere. 

The most exciting aspect of the Blue-White Scrimmages is the opportunity to see a few new players in a Virginia uniform for the first time. That typically includes a few freshmen, or maybe a transfer or two. This time, both the UVA men's and women's basketball teams have several new players who will be playing in front of Virginia fans at JPJ for the first time. Coach Mox's squad has six newcomers, including three transfers and three freshmen, while Tony Bennett's Cavalier roster features a staggering eight players who weren't on the roster last season, including four transfers and four freshmen. I'm particularly excited to see Elijah Gertrude and Blake Buchanan in the men's scrimmage and Kymora Johnson and Olivia McGhee for the women. 

2. What's the starting five? 

Seeing as the start of the regular season is less than a month away, the starting lineups for the Blue-White Scrimmage are usually a pretty good indicator of what the starting lineups will look like for both the UVA men's and women's basketball teams when the season begins. Given the significant roster changes for both teams, it'll be more intriguing than ever to see who Tony Bennett and Coach Mox start on their "A Teams" to begin Saturday's scrimmage. 

3. Hoping to see end-to-end action and flashy highlights

This is less applicable for the UVA women's basketball team, as Coach Mox prefers a fast-paced style of play with lots of transition and end-to-end action - meaning that the scrimmage should just be more of the same. But for the Virginia men's basketball program, which fairly strictly enforces Tony Bennett's preferred slow and deliberate style of basketball, the Blue-White scrimmage is one of the few times where we get to see the Cavaliers run up and down the floor without consequence. We're certainly hoping to see guys like Ryan Dunn, Leon Bond III, and the athletic freshman Elijah Gertrude get up for some highlight dunks and we hope both the men's and women's teams give the crowd plenty to cheer for. 

4. New bigs on display

Both the Virginia men's and women's basketball teams are debuting brand new centers this season thanks to the transfer portal. One of the bigger weaknesses for Coach Mox's squad in her first season was a lack of size at the center position. That was addressed with the addition of Kansas State transfer Taylor Lauterbach, who gives the Cavaliers an imposing presence in the paint with her 6'7" frame. On the men's side, Merrimack transfer Jordan Minor is the expected starter at center. It'll be interesting and entertaining to see him battle with four-star freshman Blake Buchanan during the scrimmage. 

5. Unofficially tipping off an exciting college basketball season for both teams

Though their official seasons will not begin until the first week of November, playing in front of UVA fans at John Paul Jones Arena for the first time in six months is sure to be an invigorating experience for both teams, who might see this as the informal beginning of the 2023-2024 basketball season. Hopes are high for both teams, with Tony Bennett's Virginia men's basketball team looking once again to contend at the top of the ACC and Coach Mox's UVA women's basketball team hoping to build off of the strides they made last year and return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018. If things go well, Virginia might have one of the best all-around basketball programs in the country this year. 

As always, we're just excited to see the Cavaliers return to the floor and give us a taste of what to expect in what should be an exciting 2023-2024 Virginia men's basketball season. Stay tuned to CavaliersNow this weekend as we'll have stats, highlights, and takeaways from Saturday's Blue-White Scrimmage. 

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